Denis Dubourdieu buys Chateau Doisy-Dubroca

Winemaking professor Denis Dubourdieu has reunited two parts of the old Doisy estate in Bordeaux's Sauternes region after buying Chateau Doisy-Dubroca from Berenice Lurton for an undisclosed fee.

Denis Dubourdieu at Chateau Reynon during Bordeaux en primeur week earlier this year

Doisy-Dubroca is an 1855 classed second growth in the Barsac appellation of Sauternes, but its remaining three hectares of vines were pulled up in 2012. It was once part of the same larger Doisy estate, split eventually into Daene, Vedrines and Dubroca.

For Dubourdieu, who already owns Chateau Doisy-Daene, buying Dubroca continues what his father started.

‘In 1968, my father bought six hectares of Doisy-Dubroca, which he replanted and incorporated into Doisy-Daene,’ Dubourdieu told Decanter.com. ‘I will almost certainly do the same with the part that I have bought, but no new planting will take place until 2016, once the soils have sufficiently recovered’.

The estate also contains 1000m2 of 18th and 19th Century winemaking buildings and a small chateau, all of which need to be renovated.

The cellars will become a storage warehouse for all five Dubourdieu Bordeaux properties and will become their main offices, which are today located at Chateau Reynon.

‘We are very happy to be regrouping parts of the Doisy estate that were split in the early 19th century,’ added Dubourdieu, who is professor of oenology at the University of Bordeaux. ‘It was my father’s dream.’

Doisy-Vedrines is owned by Olivier Casteja, who is also head of regional council for Crus Classés of Sauternes and Barsac.

Written by Jane Anson in Bordeaux